Stephanie Beacham: I wish my career had been classier, ‘Inseminoid’ was a low point

Stephanie Beacham played Sable Colby in The Colbys and Dynasty and was in Coronation Street before a stint in the sitcom Trollied, she talks to Metro about what it was like to have Ava Gardner as a mentor.

Did you enjoy doing Trollied?

I’m furious I’m not in the Christmas special but my character, Lorraine, left in such a dramatic fashion she couldn’t come back. I wanted to be with the guys again and come back as a shoplifter or something but they said no, so I took the huff and came back to Malibu. It’s like with Coronation Street – how can the character go back? There’s no way you can come back with integrity. If they kept up that degree of sadism with the character in Trollied I couldn’t have done it – she turned really horrible. From the moment she made Jane Horrocks bark like a dog my sympathies could no longer be with her. It was quite upsetting.

Did you enjoy doing a comedy?

So many people I play have six changes of costume in ten minutes. For this, I wore the same terrible grey suit throughout the whole series and loved it. It wasn’t like anyone I’d played before. And the terrible hairdo and desperate make up – it was really fun. She was the sort of woman who would do her make up at the traffic lights. I loved working with comedians and would love to do more. It’s great that, at this senior age, I can still learn from people.

Did you base Lorraine on anyone?

Hilary Devey [from Dragon’s Den] – although she’s an enormously successful woman and Lorraine couldn’t be. I was able to put this deep voice on. It was a homage to the entrepreneurial woman.

When did you first believe you were reincarnated?

When I went to Versailles when I was 12. I’d never heard of reincarnation – I just had an experience of knowing that I’d been there before. I knew where I’d lived, then had flashes of knowing what I’d done. No, I wasn’t Marie Antoinette or Cleopatra, I was very lowly folk but I was there. It could have been a DNA flashback – how do we know? At the age of 12 there was that definite realisation before I even knew what reincarnation was. From that, I investigated further. I live in La-La Land a lot of the time. All these wonderful, crazy people live on my doorstep and there are great specialists in this stuff. We’ve all seen the programmes about people undergoing past-life regression under hypnosis. I’d never argue the point with anyone. It’s like talking about God – you either get the inspiration or you don’t.

Who have you learned the most from working with?

Ava Gardner was my first mentor. She was extraordinary. She taught me a lot about camera work. She was wonderful – just seeing her in operation. She was a great star. I began to learn about lighting from her. She was a wonderfully vivid woman and the first leading lady I’d ever encountered. With stars, it’s like being in the presence of a wild animal. Marlon Brando was another one – you knew you were in the presence of someone rare. On the other hand, I’ve met stars where I’ve thought: ‘I don’t get this.’ But there are others you know are going to hit it huge – they have so much about them it’s impossible for the world not to celebrate them. I was terrified when I first met Joanna Lumlely when we were around 20. She was so sophisticated. It’s not a surprise she’s done so well because she had that glow about her.

What would you have done differently in your career?

Had the circumstances been different – in other words, if I wasn’t lumbered with being a single parent – I could have carved out a classy career. My CV had The Royal Court, Royal Shakespeare Company, National Theatre – all that classy stuff, then suddenly Inseminoid [1981 sci-fi film in which a woman is inseminated by an alien]. The truth was I needed to pay the bills. I met a guy on that movie who said I should think about playing baddies. It was from that slight comment I turned my direction towards the nasties rather than the goodies and I’ve had an amazing career from it. A lot of what I’ve done has been rubbish but it’s paid the school fees.

What are people’s misconceptions of you?

I don’t know. I don’t look around to see what people think. I’m pretty oblivious. I don’t think you should look around to see what everyone else is doing – life isn’t a race, your dreams are your own dreams to follow; comparing yourself to others can make you feel despondent. Just plod along doing what you want to do. I would love to reach national treasure stature – because then suddenly all your transgressions are forgotten.

Trollied Christmas Special is on Sky 1 on Christmas Eve. Series 2 is out on DVD on December 31.